A major advance in the design of archery equipment was the compound bow. As compared to the more conventional bow designs (e.g., long bows, recurve bows) in which a single length of bow string is strung between the ends of the bow, a compound bow uses a pulley system and makes multiple passes of the bow string between the ends of the bow. For example, a typical compound bow has one or more pulley wheels mounted on each end of the bow and makes at least three passes of the bow string through the pulley system between the ends of the bow. With a compound bow, the archer is able to use the mechanical advantage of the pulley system to obtain a significant force advantage over the more conventional bow designs.
Although the design of a compound bow is quite different, it still presents most of the same problems in shooting technique to an archer including requiring a uniform draw length for best operation. Many draw length aids available for conventional bows (e.g., clickers, optical mirrors) can also be used with compound bows; however, because of the unique design of the compound bow including its pulley wheels and multiple passes of the bow string, it offers an opportunity for the development of draw stops tailored to this unique design. As of this time, the only known draw stop specifically for a compound bow includes a spoke extending outwardly of one of the pulley wheels wherein the spoke rotates with the wheel and abuts the end of the bow upon the archer reaching the desired draw length. Although such a draw stop is available for compound bows, it is not believed that any draw stop using the multiple passes of the bow string is known and it was with this in mind that the present invention was developed. With the draw stop of the present invention, the multiple passes of the bow string of the compound bow (and in particular, the fact that at least two of the passes typically move in opposite directions relative to each other as the bow string is drawn) are used to create a positive, draw stop mechanism uniquely suited for use with a compound bow.